“All of them face adversity all their lives and they’ve been doing this,” Christiansen told CBS2’s Steve Overmyer in March. “They don’t have fathers in their lives, mothers are working with three or four children. Some of them have kids of their own.”

“There’s a family and the brotherhood is amazing and it’s something that really helped me get through college,” he said. “And I’m grateful that I went through it.”

Doing his best despite adversity seems like it’s already paid off — Mejia had a full-time job lined up even before he donned his cap and gown Friday, graduating with a 3.4 grade point average.